Le Mans Virtual Series: Porsche Coanda on pole at Spa, Verstappen starts fifth

After two 20-minute sessions, the LMP and GTE grids are set for the 6 Hours of Spa – the third round of the 2022-23 Le Mans Virtual Series. 

Two-time Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup champion Joshua Rogers mastered inclement conditions to land pole position for the #23 Porsche Coanda entry in LMP. 

In the GTE category, it was a BMW one-two, with Kevin SIggy for BMW Team Redline heading the field – also overcoming a wet track. 

The #1 Team Redline car, which will be driven by Max Verstappen in tomorrow’s race, will line up in fifth, qualified by Jeffrey Rietveld. Ulas Ozyildirim qualified 15^th in the R8G Esports car he will share with Romain Grosjean. 

LMP Qualifying 

After a damp start to LMP qualifying, the early pace was set by the Porsche Coanda team, dominating the time sheets with Mitchell deJong in the #20 initially besting colleague Rogers. 

With just half the session completed, incredible, first to second was covered by less than 0.1s – Collin Spork for Alpine Esports the last driver within the magic tenth. 

It all boiled down to one last flying lap. 

Rogers was first to strike, purple in the first two sectors to set a new benchmark. Jernej Simončič was close behind and was setting a very similar pace in the championship-leading #4 Floyd Vanwall-Burst. However, a mistake in the final sector put paid to the pole position challenge. 

Michal Smidl was next, again setting comparable times. Ultimately, he was closest to the Porsche, setting the second-quickest time just 0.11s behind the quickest time. 

AMG Team Petronas Esports driver James Baldwin was quickest in the first sector but couldn’t capitalise around the rest of the lap and will line up sixth. 

GTE Qualifying 

Siggy at the wheel of the #71 snatched pole position in this category, but only in the last few seconds. 

Rain greeted the GTE field as it began setting times, the first damp qualifying session so far this year. 

Ibraheem Khan in the #89 BMW Team BS+COMPETITION set the early pace in the damp conditions. It was a relatively well-behaved session, with the only notable excursion Xiayufei Li for Inspeed Racing – running wide at the exit of La Source.

With eight minutes left, the order at the top shuffled. Yuri Kasdorp for Oracle Red Bull Racing jumped up to second position, the Siggy usurped the Porsche just a second later. Christian Malghera in the #26 Ferrari sat third at this point. 

The conditions looked to start drying up, but wet tyres were still the only realistic tyre to select. 

With the final laps being corrected, Khan went quicker again, but Siggy was behind him on track and cross the line to set the quickest time by 0.2s. Moritz Löhner for Project 1 by Dörr Esports squeezed in the third-best time. 

The championship-leading #99 lines-up fourth, but the Monza-winning #888 R8G ESPORTS entry is only 12^th. 

Watch the 6 Hours of Spa, Live

Le Mans Virtual Series 6 Hours of Spa – Saturday 5th November 13:00 GMT / 14:00 CET / 06:00 PT / 09:00 ET – Free and live on the Traxion.GG YouTube Channel.

6 Hours of Spa, Le Mans Virtual Series, LMP Qualifying results

1. #23 J. Rogers / M. Bakkum / M. Krönke – Porsche Coanda Oreca 2:11.060
2. #2 L. Bennett / M. Smidl / D. Pinto – Team Redline +0.011
3. #4 B. Viscaal / J. Simoncic / J. N. Pedersen – Floyd Vanwall-Burst +0.149
4. #36 C. Spork / R. MacDuff / T. Lartilleux – Alpine Esports Oreca +0.215
5. #1 M. Verstappen / J. Rietveld / M. Benecke – Team Redline +0.291
6. #63 J. Baldwin / B. Huis / G. Carroll – AMG Team Petronas Esports +0.312
7. #20 Z. Campbell / T. Østgaard / M. deJong – Porsche Coanda Oreca +0.360
8. #53 M. Romanidis / N. Wisniewski / J. Brzezinski – AMG Team Williams Esports +0.382
9. #8 J. Toman (G) / E. Jajovski (G) / M. Csincsik R8G ESPORTS +0.448
10. #5 M. Stefanko / J. Keithley / P. Brljak – Williams Esports +0.480

6 Hours of Spa, Le Mans Virtual Series, GTE Qualifying results

1. #71 C. Lulham / K. Siggy / E. Bonito – BMW Team Redline – BMW M8 GTE GTE 2:23.346
2. #89 A. Terzic / I. Khan / F. Stanley – BMW Team BS+COMPETITION – BMW M8 GTE +0.235
3. #11 M. Gassner / M. Löhner / F. Hasse – Project 1 by Dörr Esports – Porsche 911 RSR GTE +0.730
4. #99 Y. Kasdorp / A. Siebel / D. Jordan – Oracle Red Bull Racing – Porsche 911 RSR GTE GTE +0.742
5. #10 M. D’Alessandro / M. Patel / E. Masciulli – MAHLE Racing Team – BMW M8 GTE GTE +0.798
6. #26 K. Galbiati / C. Malghera / A. Terzi – SIM Maranello – Ferrari 488 GTE +0.841
7. #777 R. Delorme / M. Veit / T. Nojima – D’station Racing – Aston Martin Vantage +0.978
8. #51 N. Nielsen / K. Stoltze / C. Michel – SF Velas Esports Team – Ferrari 488 GTE +0.990
9. #95 L. Sørensen / L. Bak / M. Gade- Prodrive FYRA Esport – Aston Martin Vantage GTE +0.995
10. #66 G. Grinbergas / S. Wunsch / P. Schindler – SIMMSA Esports – Ferrari 488 GTE GTE +1.022

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